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FACT CHECK: Does Canada operate visa lottery?

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Claim:

Canada Visa Lottery Application is out

Verdict:

False. Canada does not operate a visa lottery. The link to a viral message on WhatsApp redirects users to a website not related to the Canadian government. Also, there’s no information regarding visa lottery on Canadian government website (Canada.ca) or their immigration social media handles.

Full Text:

A viral message has been circulating on WhatsApp, the instant messaging platform claiming that Canada Visa Lottery Application form for 2021/2022 is out.

The message reads;

“*CANADA Visa Lottery Application Form 2021/2022 Is Out*

The CANADIAN Visa Lottery online Application Form 2021/2022 registration exercise which is the quickest way for all Foreigners interested in immigrating legally to live, Study and work in CANADA.

*The Resident Card Lottery Program also known as Visa Lottery program is a chance for 45,000 people from all over the world to become permanent and legal residents of CANADA, meaning that they can live, work and study in CANADA.*

*Interested Applicants are to visit Online Registration Portal*

The Winners Will Be Drawn From Random Selection And There Is No Cost To Register.”

The message added a link where interested applicants can check their eligibility

“_*Check Eligibility and Apply here:*_

https://tinyurl.com/CANADA-immigration2022

Verification:

Ripples Nigeria followed the link and it redirects to a website with URL (https://canada-visa.get-reward.online/). On this website, an application form requesting person information and biodata was shown with a claim it is from the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship department Canada.

Read also: FACT CHECK: Did king Abolarin of Oke-Ila build a tuition-free school for indigent students?

Without filling the form and a click on apply, the form instantly moves to a new page for another set of questions and beneath the question is a series of cloned Facebook comments testifying to the originality of the scheme.

In an effort to leave the page, it automatically generated a page of congratulations filled with web ads and any click on that page leads to Bet9ja, a sports betting website.

In another attempt where the second series of questions were answered. It leads to a page asking the applicant to share the website before getting the “Canadian Resident Card Lottery” form with the same cloned messages also at the bottom of the webpage.

A quick check on the domain using whois.domaintools.com shows that the site was registered on June 24, 2021 and the current IP address is in New Jersey which has been changed at least twice since the website was created.

The hosting has also been changed at least seven times since June.

This shows a fraudulent website changing its location after the initial one is discovered.

The check also showed that the main page of the website is also decorated and labelled as a scholarship website for State University of New York and the same pattern used for the Canadian visa lottery was employed.







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